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Home , Anthony James Leggett, Dirac Medal, Roger Penrose

R E P U B L I C D A Y S P E C I A L VOLUME 01

ISSUE 01 S E N T I E N C E FEB 2011 T H E M O N T H L Y N E W S L E T T E R O F I I S E R P U N E

this issue EMINENT SCIENTISTS VISIT IISER PUNE What’s new 2 IISER Pune saw a number of renowned personalities last month. We had visits by a Nobel laureate, a Nobel Laureate, an Abel Prize winner, a world famous and a renowned neuroscientist. Their talks and interaction motivated and excited the students as well as the faculty. in the Comp Lab A chat with 2 Sir Anthony J Legett Arsenic based 3 DNA - A Breakthrough, will radically change the way we view our world VENKATRAMAN SIR SRS SIR MRIGANKA RAMAKRISHNAN VARADHAN SUR A bubble called 3 Structural Biologist, Mathematical physicist, Renowned mathematician, of Physics, Neuroscientist, “The Bank” 2009 in Chemistry 1988 2007 Abel Prize winner 2003 Fellow of the Royal Society

Ever wondered Dr. Venkatraman Ramakrish- Professor Roger Penrose, is a Professor SRS Varadhan is a Sir Anthony James Leggett Professor Mriganka Sur is a where money nan is a structural biologist prominent mathematical renowned mathematician. He visited IISER Pune among Fellow of the Royal Society well known for his work on physicist of our . He has is a Fellow of the Royal Soci- various other institutes during and the Newton Professor & comes from? uncovering the structure and made great contributions to ety and has won many awards his 20 day long visit to India Head, Department of Brain function of ribosome and the fields of General Relativ- for his work in Probability from 6th January 2011 to 1st and Cognitive Sciences, Mas- Marvellous macromolecular crystallogra- ity and . Moreover, Theory. February 2011. sachusetts Institute of Tech- 4 phy. He is also known for his as a recreational philosopher, nology, USA. His laboratory He did his undergraduate He gave a public lecture at work on the structure of the he has also discussed physics is renowned for its work on “Feet”- studies at Presidency College, IUCAA on 12th January 2011 histone and chromatin. and . Neuroscience. Using experi- Madras and obtained his doc- on the topic ‘Why can't time A feat of courage, mental and theoretical ap- His is a remarkable case He has contributed a lot to torate from the Indian Statis- run backwards?’ followed by a against all odds proaches, it studies develop- where he transitioned from science and has been hon- tical Institute under the guid- talk in NCL on 13th January mental plasticity and the dy- theoretical physics to biology oured on numerous occa- ance of C R Rao in 1963. 2011, as a part of NCL Foun- namic changes in mature cor- and ended up winning the sions. Some of the notable dation Day on ‘What can we Variation in He is known for his work with tical networks during informa- 5 in awards he has received are- do with a Quantum Liquid?’ Daniel W Stroock on diffusion tion processing, learning and Fundamental 2009 with Thomas A. Steitz The (1975), processes and for his work on He also attended a function in memory. and Ada E. Yonath "for stud- the Wolf Prize (1988), the large deviations with M. D. HR4 and talked about his life Constants ies of the structure and func- (1989) and the He is a regular visitor to IISER Donsker. with students and faculty. He tion of the ribosome". (2008). Pune. He gave a special semi- How can a con- also gave away the prizes for Some of the notable awards nar to students and faculty on He currently works in the He is currently the Emeri- academic excellence for Fall conferred upon him are: The the 17th of January 2011 at 3 Structural Studies Division of tus Rouse Ball Professor of 2010 and Spring 2010. It was The Art Birkhoff prize in 1994, the pm in HR4 on ‘Brain Wiring 5 the MRC (Medical Research at the Mathe- really a unique experience for Steele Prize in 1996 with and Brain Disorders’. The talk of Polage Council) Laboratory of Mo- matical Institute, University of the students. Daniel W Stroock, the Abel was thoroughly enjoyed by lecular Biology in Cambridge, Oxford and Emeritus Fellow Prize in 2007 for his work on the audience. Painting using . of Wadham College . ! large deviations, Fellow of He visited IISER Pune for a He visited IISER Pune for 3 Royal Society of London in short duration on the 18th of days from the 24th to the 26th 1998. The government of In- page 2 December last year. A special of December 2010. He gave a dia honoured him in 2008 A chat with session was organized where public lecture at IUCAA on with a Padma Bhushan. he interacted with under- 24th December titled ‘Seeing Sir Anthony James Leggett geneExpression – 6 He is currently Professor, graduate as well as Ph.D. stu- through the into Students’ corner Mathematics Department at dents of IISER Pune. another World’ followed by a the prestigious Courant Insti- lecture at IISER Pune on the featured He also gave a lecture in NCL th tute of Mathematical Sci- same topic on 25 December. on the same day on ‘The ences at New York University. page 2 Academic Buzz structural basis of tRNA selec- On the 26th of December, he He gave a seminar in IISER tion by the ribosome’ organ- interacted with students for page 3 Technology Focus Pune titled ‘, relative ized jointly by IISER Pune and about 2 hours, which indeed entropy and the study of rare WE ARE ON THE WEB NCL along with The Reliance was inspiring for all the stu- page 4 Book Review events’ on 4th January 2011. LEAP (Leading Experts Access dents. www.iiserpunenewsletter. He also had an interaction page 6 Foodie Corner webs.com Programme).

session with the students on

x the same day.

S E N T I E N C E page 2

Academic Buzz AVANI What’s New In The Comp Lab SACHIT

1.Laser Interferometer Gravitational As many of you would have noticed, display right happily ever after - the de- ture comforts for programming like Wave Observatory( LIGO) most of the computers in our computer tails should have been sent to you by auto indentation – automatic insertion undergraduate summer programme. lab are now running the latest Ubuntu mail. of the right number of white spaces in Last date for application:-16th (10.10). Along with that, we now have a the start of a line (makes Python soo February 2011 new file server of 10TB capacity, and a The good? Well there is a long list... much easier); code folding - don't want Website:-www..caltech.edu/ lot of new software has been installed. First of all, the clients and the server are to see the whole code of three nested Ouch! I sound like the annual report at LIGO_web/students/undergrads.html now using a more appropriate network loops and their if statements? Click on some meeting. OK - what does this file system, so no long waits while Fire- the little minus and hide them all in a mean for us poor souls who depend on fox loads and OpenOffice.org doesn‟t single line till you need them; comment 2.Centre for Astrophysics and the lab for our computation, browsing crash left, right and centre or at least toggle - want to (un)comment a whole Supercomputing (CAS) vacation and word processing? not as often. Both the browser and the set of code? Select it and press Ctrl+e. research programme– For those Office suite are now running recent These are just the features of the editor interested in Astrophysics. First up, one bit of bad news - the pan- versions and that means a lot more cool that I use most often. There are side For more details check website els (the bars on the top and the bot- features. There's a lot of other new panes where you can see the variables Website:- astronomy.swin.edu.au/ tom) don't display properly in Ubuntu software – the R statistical package, the and functions, switch between docu- study/vacstudents.html without some tweaking on your part. PiTiVi video editor and so on. In this ments and even an integrated terminal This is because they were configured by column, we hope to review software that you can use check your code. A 3.Ravi Sankaran Fellowship-For those Red Hat 5 which was running a much (, and discuss tips and tricks to making thing that I assume a lot of people are interested in Ecology and much, much) older version of the soft- computer use more fun. not going to be able to get enough of is Conservation ware responsible for that. Hence the the ability to run code without using the Website:-www.ravisankaran.org instructions in your home directory for Geany: A light weight editor licensed terminal - press F5 and voilà! A new displaying your panels sound medieval under GPL – a wonderful little inte- terminal opens running your code – 4.Conference on Advances in Energy (Brutus: “I am not gamesome: I do lack grated development environment (IDE) nifty, though I still prefer using “./ Research organized by ICAER. some part. Of that quick spirit that is in true to its name. For those of you who program” on the terminal. Website:- www.ese.iitb.ac.in/ Antony...”) to the current panel soft- are used to the interface of software ~icaer2011/index.html ware. To fix that, just remove the old like MATLAB and TurboC, this will be a To run: Geany from the terminal, Ap- configurations (.gnome2 and .gconf in relief from using gedit and the terminal. plications->Programming->Geany from your home) and your panels should This sweet little package has many crea- the menu, or Right-click->Open with- DR. L S SHASHIDHARA AWARDED K P Mohanan Joins IISER Pune JC BOSE FELLOWSHIP IISER Pune took a big stride towards its a course for the 2nd year students, goal to combine Natural and Social named „Investigating the past‟ which Sciences as Professor KP Mohanan, aims at reconstructing the Physical, Bio- earlier a Professor at the Department logical as well as Human past using the of English Language and Literature, evidence we have at the present day. National University of Singa- He is also coordinating a course for the pore joined IISER Pune from January Dr. L S Shashidhara added another feather 1st year students named „Scientific In- 2011 as a Professor at The Centre for to his cap when he was awarded the quiry through Language Structure‟ which Integrative Studies (CIS). It has given prestigious J.C.Bose Fellowship of the De- seeks to explain the seemingly obvious rise to a whole new department at partment of Science and Technology given things. to active scientists and engineers for their IISER Pune viz. linguistics, a subject that outstanding performance and contributions. defies classification into either social as well as the social sciences which is To know more about him and his re- The J.C. Bose National Fellowships are studies or science, but in reality incor- the desired goal of the IISER model of search visit-http://courses.nus.edu.sg/ meant to recognize active, performing scien- porates elements from both of them. It education. course/ellkpmoh/ tists and engineers in the country who are aims at integrating all the basic sciences below the age of 60 years. . Currently Prof. Mohanan is coordinating

A Chat With Sir Anthony James Leggett SHREYA RAY

For those of you, wannabe , actually helped him develop his... err... university where they would demand sure that I wanted to go. But one thing I who sometimes think, “Oh! I should „Nobel-Prize-winning‟ attitude; he said, that I get grants all the time. I would knew for certain was that: if I do not go, have paid more attention to high school “Philosophers by their nature are scepti- rather go to a liberal arts college.” And I and if I stay in Sussex, I would be so mathematics. I can‟t learn all this ad- cal people. It is their business to query found quite a few people in this cate- unsettled by the mere prospect of think- vanced maths in such a short time!” what everyone else takes for granted. gory and they have all been very suc- ing about it that I would certainly want Here‟s something that will give you a So having had that experience, I do tend cessful and they have done what they to be somewhere else in the next ten mental boost. I have recently had the to query what everybody else takes for wanted to do...” years and the odds of getting a job any- privilege to interview Sir Anthony James granted.” thing like that is almost zero...” Leggett, a theoretical physicist who Sometimes in life, other people make shared the Nobel Prize in Physics for his Hmm...perhaps we must pay some more decisions for us. Or, at least, tilt the On a final note, he spoke about the fu- pioneering work in He3 Superconductiv- attention to our HSS classes. balance. Put away the ego. Follow your ture hotspots of Physics. “I suspect that ity. You will be delighted to know that instincts- even if you have to take the in the next few decades, some of the Sir Leggett has had no formal training in He also had some advice for those of us bait. You might never regret it. “I went most important applications of Physics mathematics. He graduated in Classics who often contemplate on the eternal across and had a really nice time. They are not going to be within what we tra- (consists of subjects like philosophy) conflict between ambition and love, with showed me everything that was going ditionally regarded as the domain of first and then he graduated for a second respect to a scientific career of course. on, and conceivably, things that I would Physics. I suspect that there may be very time in Physics. His autobiography is “It was this long period in the history of be interested in, the Physics department important applications of basic physical very fascinating indeed. You can look it the subject when the foundation of oddly enough. In retrospect, they didn‟t principles, for example, in neurophysiol- up on http://nobelprize.org physics was just not a fashionable sub- think of showing me things happening in ogy...within what has been traditionally ject. Anyone who wanted to do it would the other departments, which I might be defined as the domain of physics, the Here are a few excerpts from the inter- do it in his spare time. A number of my interested in (laughs)... It certainly made area where I would regard as most view that will appear in whole in Kalpa. colleagues who are now very distin- a favourable impression...” probable for major revolution would be guished experts in this area looked at “...and my first reaction is, “No way, my cosmology.” Some of the interesting things that he the situation and said, “Okay, I am just good man. I am Sussex. I am good here. said was how his course in philosophy not going to go to a major research I am settled here”... I wasn‟t entirely

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Arsenic Based DNA: A breakthrough Technology Focus MONTU PATAR & APARNA Intel’s latest Sandy Bridge Processors SANDESH

Desktops as well as laptops available with Life must be sweet, truth must be beau- common group of bacteria- gammapro- the latest Core chips of Intel will be tiful and “DNA must be made up of teobacteria. rolled out early next year. At the Intel phosphorus”. This has been man‟s un- Life, as we know it, is built with the fun- Developer Forum, Intel is going to reveal derstanding for a long time. damental elements viz. C, N, O, H, S all improvements in its next-generation and P. Specifically, phosphorus is vital Sandy Bridge micro architecture. Sandy for metabolism because it is linked with Bridge is the codename for the processor life‟s fundamental fuel- ATP. It also plays micro architecture developed by Intel as a very important role in the formation the successor to Nehalem- which of phospholipids, which make cell walls includes the present reigning processers and bones. On the other hand, arsenic, such as i3,i5 and i7. which shares the same group of the Development began in 2005. Sandy Bridge uses 32 nm manufacturing process as periodic table as phosphorus, is toxic opposed to its previous 45 nm processing. This means a huge leap in performance and is comparatively more reactive than even with existing chip architecture. It is set to be announced on 5th January during phosphorus. Consumer Electronics Show 2011, after which the first batch of mainstream This discovery expands the definition of processors will be launched. life!! All this time we have been looking With the help of new Core chips, laptops will get higher levels of power efficiency. for some “weird” life forms on some According to principal analyst at Insight, Nathan Brookwood, the Sandy Bridge unknown worlds when our own Nature micro architecture is regarded as a technological tour-de-force. chose to try arsenic in the place of http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/ photos/000/297/cache/arsenic - m i c r o b e s - l i f e- phosphorus. This discovery has opened With the new architecture consumers will be able to upgrade their PCs that are detail_29774_200x150.jpg up new frontiers for research not only few years old. Processing cores might feature Hyper-threading and Turbo Boost Technology depending on market segment, as with current Core i-series. It will also But know what? ... NASA astrobiologist, in cellular biology but also in our search feature an integrated graphics core running at 650 MHz to 850 MHz. With Turbo Dr. Felisa Wolfe-Simon has got some for extraterrestrial intelligence!! Boost Technology enabled, it can achieve up to 1350 MHz clock speed. sensational news to share with us which So, here we are- another paradigm shat- is going to change our perception of life, ters, some old questions hurl again, nag- Also the processers graphic capabilities seem to be the first step by Intel in right away!! ging doubts resurface… response to AMD's Bulldozer: a unified chip with all the features of Graphics card, Video card and sound card in it. Moreover, it would be interesting to see if graphics Scientists have discovered the first or- ...and the kindling fire of wonder improvements of Sandy Bridge disrupt the growing shipments of discrete graphics ganism to thrive using arsenic instead of up a new path!! cards. phosphorus as one of its basic compo- nents of its DNA. This happened in Cali- Sandy Bridge processers are expected to be followed by Ivy bridge series of Suggested web links and references:- fornia‟s Mono Lake, a super-salty, alka- 1.www.gizmodo.com/5704158/nasa- processers. Ivy Bridge is the codename given to the 22 nm die shrink of the Sandy line, arsenic- rich body of water which finds-new-life Bridge architecture. According to the keynote speech presented by Paul Otellini would be toxic to anything alive (at least 2.www.physong.com/news/2010-12- during the 2010 Intel Developer Forum, Ivy Bridge processors may be introduced that was what we thought till now!). It‟s nasa-discovery-element-life.html as early as the second half of 2011. However, it now seems more likely that Ivy called strain GFAJ-1, a member of a Bridge will be launched a year after Sandy Bridge, probably during CES 2012.

A Bubble Called “The Bank” …. AVANI

“Show me the money!” shouted Jerry Maguire (Tom tion of the money he issued notes Cruise) to his half naked, beer gurgling, football star. for, but, people being what they “Show me the money!” are – cautious and apprehensive – reveling in the archaic „save the An intrinsic part of life is interaction – give and take. money for the rainy day‟ philoso- The barter system has existed since the dawn of time. phy never asked for the all their Goats were traded for grain; fish were traded for gold, all at once. The rains never cows and so on, the cycle never ended. However, as came. Everyone was happy… cows and goats became rather inconvenient to stuff in wallets and purses, banking came into being. Even after his perfidy was discov- ered, such was man‟s greed for The tall tale of banking begins like most of others. money, the goldsmith was allowed Once upon a time, there was a goldsmith (the Irish - also encouraged to continue as a prefer to call him a Leprechaun but I will not delve banker, albeit with a few restric- into that right now). People swarmed to him to store tions. And lo! The principles of their valuable gold for which he charged a small fee. modern banking were laid. Over time the goldsmith had pots of gold sitting pretty, gathering dust in his backyard. To exploit the The fractional reserve banking system, on which all money; they conjure it out of thin air. No wonder gold for the betterment of man and country (or so he banks are based, says that the bank must have a small running a bank is such a profitable business! Who says there is no honour among thieves? Banks just do not transfer money, they conjure it out of thin air

justified), he started loaning out notes (coins of bronze fraction of money that it loans out. As it goes, they do and copper) - its value dependent on the gold in his not need to have all the money, they just need to bonnet - to the „needy‟ and „desperate‟, gathering new make people believe that they have it. Credit is the pots of gold as interest. As people became more ambi- keystone on which this enterprise is built. And in the tious, their businesses grew, and so did their pangs for rare that all the customers actually demand their higher capital. Outrageous loans were soon being bor- money all at once (generally in the case of a mass Credits:-For those more interested can rowed from the goldsmith, now a Demigod, who panic), the bubble bursts, leading to a rare and a dra- have a look at the video series named minted money like no other. Truth be told, the gold- matic event like the collapse of a bank. Otherwise, life „Money as Debt‟. smith was a clever thief who barely had a small frac- goes on, happy and gay. Banks just do not transfer

S E N T I E N C E page 4 Off The Rack ... KRISHNA ANUJAN Survival of the Sickest The God Delusion fava?” and even “Why your iPod must undoubtedly put them to rest. Psycho- die”. He goes on to explain how ageing logically, he argues that faith in God is must be a natural preventive measure just a grown-up version of the child- against cancer. The elegant blending of hood fantasy of an imaginary friend. real-life characters, hard core molecular Dawkins dismisses „visions‟ as mere hal- biology and the history of diseases all lucinations! put in a clear, an informal, and a jargon- free language keeps you flipping. It is a This seemingly philosophical book, welcome change from the formal and which is any atheist‟s Bible (forgive the technical style of scientific writing. The irony), is peppered with humour and theory of genes being switched on and well-placed wit. According to him, the off with the environment leading to a major faiths in the world are as nonsen- kind of Lamarckian evolution i.e. passing sical as worshipping a “flying spaghetti on of traits acquired during the lifetime monster” (the faith IS real, by the way). of an individual is particularly intriguing! It is evident how an omnipresent and As the book unwinds, the reader comes omniscient authority is logically impossi- across several controversial and bold ble! His battle against theists does not theories which make this book a A fundamental atheist wages open war end there - he goes on to offer help and thought-provoking read for any aspiring on theism and denounces the existence refuge to those on whom religion was An enchanting read for everyone who scientist. of any form of superior authority. forced upon. But after a few chapters, has an interest in biology, medicine or Dawkins alternates from mathematics to his criticism and denouncement of the evolution. Dr.Moalem looks at evolution astrophysics to evolutionary biology in Bible, especially the Old Testament in a refreshing new light; He studies presenting well-laid-out arguments to stands out from everything else, almost

how diseases have evolved and how establish the God „delusion‟. He ex- like an atheist version of religious funda- some of them may, ironically, ensure presses his ideas in powerful, convincing mentalism! This book is recommended longevity!! And hence the title. He uses and sometimes spiteful (not uncalled for reading at your own risk - if you a smart, witty, humorous medium and for) words. If you have even the slight- wish to retain your faith, avoid it! the chapters are titled in Pun and light est doubts regarding the existence of a humor like “Hey, Bud! Can you do me a cosmic super power, this book will

A Marvellous “Feet” SOMIL GUPTA RECENT ADVANCES IN PROSTHESIS Very few men dare to come through the this lad had something else rather than a troubled waters, all by themselves, meek acceptance of ordained destiny. In the early months of 2009, under the Jaipur Knee Project, a research when once torn apart by the vagaries of Soon, he began to closely observe his team at Stanford University (headed by Joel Sadler), successfully man- time. Mafikul Islam is one such strong left leg - how it functions, how well- aged to make a prosthetic leg which costs only $ 20. This reinvention head from this minority. coordinated the whole is, draws inspiration from the high-end titanium knee joints (made up and how in effect this beautiful piece of from oil-filled nylon ), which provides the brace with self- A class VIII dropout, Mafikul (27), from (nature's) engineering went unnoticed lubricancy and great flexibility. West Bengal‟s Murshidabad district, for all these years of life. earned around fifty rupees a day repair- Actually, it was in 2008 that they received a request from Bhagwan Vik- ing bikes and taking up welding jobs. On He not only meticulously observed his lang Sahayta Samiti (BMVSS), Jaipur, to consider the need of coming a late evening of March 22 (2007), he shin bone, toe, heel, and knee; but he up with an affordable knee ( compatible with the Jaipur foot which is kept awake for his chores at his work- also found some analogies (structural centrally manufactured at Jaipur). shop near NH-34. and functional) in mere While working things he could find Joel & Eric first travelled to India to meet their “consumer”. The very over an oil leak of around. He soon real- moving experience of what it means to be poor and disabled in such a a truck, he mis- ized the need to give depraving socio-economic milieu, profoundly impacted and triggered them in giving form to their ultimate design. judged the ab- some well-monitorable

sence of petrol in movements to his an- In April 2009, they presented the knee at the Stanford Cool Products the tank. This one kle and knee for the Expo, and Stanford published a press release about it. The Jaipur slip of watchful- artificial limb he was Knee has been recognized by Time magazine as one of the “Top 50 ness, and his cher- conceiving. He found inventions of 2009″. Today, around 400 amputees in India are using ished dreams of the answer in the hy- these legs to walk, run, and direct themselves towards fulfilling and his entire family draulic spring of a two- dignified lives. (including his wheeler. The move-

younger brother (13) and sister (16)) ment and much needed rotational ability

were thrown asunder! In a trice, as of our knee could well be identified in a soon as he put the welding equipment system of three bearings of a Chinese Still, in some way, Mafikul's achievement cannot be overshadowed by just to the tank, there was a massive explo- irrigation pump (for rotation) and a two looking for market cost of both the prosthesis; but should also be looked sion; which finally resulted in the loss of wheeler kicker springs (for appropriate under an inspiring light of what he had, what he knew and what he could his right leg. The moment he got to his balance). Finally, in his fourth attempt, do!! senses and took a feel of reality in the with no more than some metal plates, hospital, he found himself completely at rods, springs and some bits and pieces sea - trying aimlessly to grapple with his of a motor bike, he defied all odds; and References and Credits nagging anguish. “I didn't know how I there was a birth of this not-so-elite 1. “A leg up for prosthetics” by Rabi Banerjee, from “The Week”, Jan 31, 2010. would lead a normal life.” Jaipur foot. 2. http: whatgives365.wordpress.com/2010/03/25/5-pieces-of-plastic-4-nuts-and- bolts-the-ability-to-walk-again/ Now, a normal artificial foot (Jaipur Today Mafikul is keenly willing to pro- 3. http://dvice.com/archives/2009/04/stanford-studen.php foot) costs around one lakh rupees. This vide his expertise for others, those not 4. http://www.oandp.com/articles/2010-02_03.asp costly prosthesis was beyond his means, with heavy wallets, to have leg prosthe- and thus his monetary insufficiency sis for a nominal cost of three thousand Suggested web links and articles forced his family to look for newer rupees. Even local NGOs have shown 1.http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPrintView.jsp?page_id=12554 means of livelihood; and surely, an early interest in providing this prosthesis for 2.San Fransisco chronicle, November 25,2009: Did Stanford knee project get a leg shift of responsibilities in his family. But the desperate and unprivileged. up?- John Wildermuth

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Variation In Fundamental Constants AVANI GOWARDHAN Physicists seem to delight in nothing so billions of years. much as upsetting the most commonly So, we look at the light emitted from a accepted beliefs of the world. One of distant sometime in the past that the theories on which many hopes for a we receive right now. This light passes unified theory of physics are centered is through one of the clouds of dust in the . It seems to suggest in on its way to our humble most of its models (with the requisite abode. Due to the presence of elements 11-odd dimensions to make the mathe- like and carbon, which absorb matics work) that variation in the value specific wavelengths from this radiation, we get absorption dips in the spectrum. The wavelengths absorbed, which de- pend on the value of α at that time, would be very slightly off when com- pared to the wavelengths we observe in the lab nowadays. That slight difference sets. Using one analysis, a group ( let us controversy. In most of the experi- is what we are looking for - makes look- call them group W ; I like to avoid law- ments, since nothing definitive was ob- ing for a needle in a haystack easy as suits ) found the first quantitative value served, an upper limit was claimed for 3.141592...... for Δα / α = ( -0.57 ± 0.11 ) x 10-5. Δα / α (based on the maximum resolu- The importance of that needle is that Another group ( group C )claimed in a tion of the setup). Typical scientific opti- these values will actually constrain the follow-up paper that they had gravely mism... models. These are among the few low- underestimated their errors. The uncer- An easy way out of this is, since we have of α (fine structure constant), μ (proton energy and testable predictions that we tainty that W claimed was lesser than no idea how α changes, it is not com- -to-electron mass ratio) is necessary for get. Most of the other predictions are the minimum possible with the equip- pletely fair to compare values from bil- the existence of extra compacted spatial on energy scales of 1019 GeV, far be- ment. Using the same spectrum, a stu- lions of years ago and now. It would dimensions whose sizes are related to yond the reaches of foreseeable tech- dent group at NCRA recently calculated have been too simple to have a linear the values of the fundamental constants. nology. it to be (1.01 ± .99) x 10-5 with the relationship. The time variation of the sizes of these There is no expected value of the varia- uncertainty nearly 10 smaller. Basically, as of now, we have very little compacted spatial dimensions thus tion of these constants. Rather, each As is fairly obvious, the effects of sys- conclusive evidence about whether or manifests as variation in these funda- model predicts very different variations tematic errors (instrumentation) will how these so called constants vary. All mental constants. for them. Out of the hundreds of have to be greatly reduced before we we can do is hope that they do so in a It is arguably one of the most difficult equally credible models, fundamental can make any definitive statement about relatively simple pattern with space and challenges of current physics. The ex- constant variation is our best hope for these constants. time that we can decipher. periments for the observation of judging their credibility. This is, of For a look at Δα closer to home, we changes in constants like α and μ range course, an idealistic viewpoint. It is can look at atomic clocks. Since they References:- from observing an atomic clock for a highly unlikely that any value calculated depend on hyperfine transitions in alkali 1.”Probing fundamental constant number of years, to observing light from will be accepted in the near future with- metal atoms having different depend- evolution with astronomical spec- the most distant objects in the galaxy. out blood being spilled . ence on α and seem simpler than noisy troscopy” by N.Kanekar, NCRA The former will give us an extremely There is a blatant disagreement between QSO (Quasi-Stellar Object) spectra, it fine picture, over very small time scales. the values obtained by different groups - might be hoped they are more resolute. The latter will tell us its variation over even those working on the same data But no, they do not help resolve the

The Art Of Polage NEHA

Living in Harmony

by Austine Wood-Comarow

Central figure is the polage without a filter, and the other two at different orientations through a polarizing filter.

A few months back while surfing ...stained glass meets the video screen through the channels on the TV, hardly stained glass. Polage is a medium for the anything interesting was being aired, and practitioner till date. Polage requires Comarow's masterpieces are usually 21st Century: stained glass meets the I was almost about to give up when I birefringent material, i.e. materials which displayed in a motorized light box in video screen.” came across this interesting art form have the ability to split a light ray into which the art is rotated. This motion Check out these links called polage. two depending on the polarization of brings out wonders as one impression 1. Artist website the wave. The humble cellophane is a morphs into another like a pupa into a http://www.austine.com/ Ever heard of it? No? Neither had I, but good example. The colourless cello- butterfly. To make the paintings more 2. Making of a Polage I was stumped by the sheer beauty of phane has to be stuck on to a polarizing interactive, she sometimes provides it http://goo.gl/JhKVR the creations. Polage which stands for filter. Different thickness of the cello- with individual filters and the viewer has polarize-collage was founded by Austine phane produces different colours. Since to go around the 'cellulose sandwich' to <———————-- Comarow. Sadly, it has not yet been these are a result of refraction as op- experience the artistic marvel. To put it absorbed into the mainstream art me- posed to reflections from paintings, they in the artist‟s words - “The finished Po- If you are too dia, possibly because it is an art form seem more vibrant. The plane, which lage is alive. It glows and the colors ap- lazy, point your which needs to done in a physics lab. looks like etched glass, comes to life pear to flow as it cycles through it's phone( with a Unfortunately, she remains the only when covered with a polarizing filter . multiple views. It is moving, changing QR reader) here.

The students’ corner

I’ll finish it by tomorrow yaar….. SHREYA RAY

“That‟s cool!” I can’t. The shop is so damn far away! where the rabbit quickly reaches near the Foodie Corner “Me too!” Shall I read the chapter Sir has taught us finishing line of the sprinting race and then “I‟m up for anything new!” today? Or I’ll read it tomorrow, its better I becomes lax and decides to take a short Aashay read the chapter entirely after it’s completed nap. The tortoise in the meantime slowly These phrases happened to follow the in the class. crosses the finishing line and thus unex- For a foodie like myself, eating daily in the mess is out mention of a daily game of football. Schol- Oh! I remember I have to give in an article pectedly wins the race. So have we all of the question. So finding new places to eat at is one ars, all wrapped up in blankets, fervently for the magazine. I’ll do it by tomorrow, for become overconfident like the rabbit? of my top priorities! This place, called Mainland discussed and almost fixed the timings of sure. China is a haven for authentic Chinese food. It is per- the games and the teams involved, while My sister gave me some very good movies, I Paulo Coelho, the philosopher, says that haps the only Chinese restaurant in Pune which serves the winds continued to ruffle the pages of must watch them someday. when we get too close to our goals or ‘non-Indianised’ Chinese food. Try the ‘Dim Sums’ here books lying open on the bed. The people outside are calling me to play but dreams or whatever, a fear of realizing and don’t forget the special Chinese tea. The ambi- ence is also awesome. Although it is a bit pricey, it’s I am too busy. I have to do some Math. I that dream arises within us. We suddenly worth the money. The per head expenditure will come “So we start tomorrow?” suck at Math. start feeling guilty and forget all our hard to around 350 rupees. Mainland China has two Hey, I see her coming. I must ask her... work of the past. We commit a series of branches in Pune - one at ICC Tech Park, Pyramid Mall, Interestingly, all „good‟ things in life always “Hi! I was looking for you. Could you lend me blunders and lose it all. Senapati Bapat Road and the other at City Point, Dhole start tomorrow, or they will be accom- that book of yours? Thanks. Hey, don’t you Patil Road. Do visit at least once. plished by tomorrow. And “tomorrow” think Natural selection is not a scientific the- My dear friends let me tell you, this is all RESTAURANT OPERATING HOURS seems to have attained a broader meaning ory because it is not falsifiable? Never mind. nonsense. Our problem is that we are just than its dictionary definition, broad in Tell me what exactly did that guy say to that plain lazy. And the sad part is that we LUNCH SESSION 1200 - 1530 terms of the number of days included. girl that day?” revel in it. It‟s the best excuse: Sorry, I‟m DINNER SESSION 1900 - 2330 Procrastination, the anthem of student lazy. What can I do? God made me that CONTACT life, is here to stay. And after putting aside This is the sad story of a student – sad - way. Web: www.mainlandchina.com my incomplete Physics record, I wonder: not because something tragic has hap- I should not ask a student to go against his Why? pened but because nothing ever happens. nature, but if you are not counting this as Tel: And we come back to our question: why? a solution, there is none. Blame God or 1.(020)66013030, 30463605, 30463606 2.(020)66207777, 30463612, 30463613 Why didn’t I buy a refill today? It’s alright, I’ll blame your fickle teenage hormones. If buy it tomorrow, and the shop is so close-by I When I was a kid, my grandfather used to you are happy with your life, that‟s good E-mail: can buy it anytime. tell me a story about a rabbit and a tor- enough. Or else, it‟s only you who can do 1. [email protected] I should have recharged my phone today but toise. I‟m sure everyone has heard of it, something about it. Think again. 2. [email protected]

Get involved! SOMIL & SHREYA Your suggestions and criticisms are most valuable to us. Hey guys, thought you might just like to put on your thinking hat (for a change?).Can you figure out which of the two adjacent vertical Do feel free to send them to us at: lines is actually lengthier? [email protected] or leave comments on our website. Most of you might answer: obviously the sec- ond one! Or you might not answer it yet, think- ing surely it cannot be so obvious. But, then what else can it be? Much to your surprise (if you haven’t come across this before), it’s none. Both the vertical lines are of equal length!

Then why does this happen? Why do we feel that the second line is longer? We know it’s got to do with those differently oriented V-shaped branches on the ends of the lines. But why exactly? It’s one of the very famous visual illusions, called the Muller-Lyer illusion. Here, we are basically fooled in estimating their length to be unequal because of some- thing called as “depth perception”. Our brain is accustomed to give a dimension of depth to the world we interact with. Thus, we interpret the line with outward branches as if it is some- thing farther away (as it were a far corner of a room), and the one whose tails are inward ap- pear to be like a near-end of a room. And from experience, we do know that a far-away object is actually much bigger than it looks. So here’s the illusion! Well, this one is one of the many proposed and plausible explanations.

EDITORS

SOMIL GUPTA AVANI GOWARDHAN NEHA M

VARUN K. KRISHNA ANUJAN SHREYA RAY

SRAVANI S. KSHITI MISHRA ARSHAD NAIR AASHAY PATIL